The present invention relates to an apparatus and process for cleaning optical components. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus and process for cleaning optical components including ophthalmic lenses, telescope lenses, instrument lenses, camera lenses, optical filters, mirrors and ophthalmoscopic lenses used to examine and laser treat the eye fundus and anterior chamber angle (hereafter collectively referred to as "optical lens" or "lens") wherein the apparatus and process provide more consistently clean and residue free surfaces compared to other cleaning systems presently available.
Ophthalmoscopic lenses are commercially available in both contact and non-contact designs and may comprise one or more optical elements. Such lenses are described in various United States patents, including for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,738,521 and 5,046,836, both to Volk. Ophthalmoscopic lenses have opposed exposed front and back surfaces through which illumination as well as image forming light rays pass. The lenses are generally designed to be hand-held and are therefore mounted in a tubular or frustoconically shaped retaining ring or housing. Such a holding arrangement allows the practitioner or, in the surgical environment, the physician's assistant to handle the lens without touching the lens surfaces.
Telescope lenses, instrument lenses, camera lenses, and filters also have exposed front and back surfaces. Such lenses are frequently mounted in a similar tubular housing or ring.
It is a common experience and problem that dust, dirt and grime may collect on one or both of the exposed surfaces of a lens. However, an optical surface substantially free from debris or other contaminants is highly desirable to obtain optimum lens performance while avoiding glare, image distortion, and transmission loss. As such, many lenses, and especially ophthalmoscopic lenses, which are generally used in conjunction with intense illumination sources, are often cleaned before use.
Optical lenses which are anti-reflective coated, as well as surfaces which are coated to perform as filters or mirrors, are cleaned with evaporating solvents or ultrasonic cleaning systems prior to the thin film vacuum deposition process. Such cleaning systems are costly to use and do not always adequately prepare the surface for thin film deposition, especially larger surfaces which are more difficult to handle.
Lint free cleaning cloths and alcohol, acetone, or other chemically based cleaning solutions are commercially available to the end user for cleaning coated and uncoated optical surfaces of the types previously mentioned. However, despite the name, lint-free cleaning cloths typically will leave some lint and residue on the optical surface which remains once the surface has dried. Furthermore, constant cleaning of an optical surface with a cloth-type cleaner may scratch the optical surface or coating and degrade the performance of the optical component.